12

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Three days.

Three days, waiting for Pyrrha to break and tell someone.

Three days, waiting for Ozpin - or someone else on his payroll - to sweep in and drag him off, either to reward him or punish him for probably knowing too much.

The fact that Ozpin had set him on the 'right' track himself was the only reason he didn't want to try running. Why bother, when the man seemed content to leave him be? Running with knowledge could just as easily be what would get him hunted down as running with the suspicion of it. At least right now he looked like he either didn't figure it out, or was willing to side with them.

'Ozpin isn't a villain, Jaune.' Amber said quietly, feeling his anxiety through the connection they were using to talk while he once more sat in his dorm, watching Nora chase Ruby around outside while the others laughed, 'He won't kill you or anything like that if he doesn't think you're trying to do worse.'

"Based on your story, now you've told it to me, Amber?" He sighed, shaking his head tiredly and closing his eyes. The downside to talking to Amber was feeling her injuries and pain, but at least that drowned out everything else around him, and he could help her not feel it. "I find it hard to believe you."

"What happened wasn't his fault, Jaune."

"I think it is, at least a little." Jaune argued shortly, grimacing at the emotions he felt echo back, "If he'd had your under guard, or even just an escort of a team he trusted, you might be just fine. He didn't though, even though he knew you were a target."

"Are you… talking with Amber again?" He turned, mildly surprised, to see s shaky Pyrrha looking at him in concern, eyes soft and worried and lips in a thin line. "I-I can leave if you want privacy for your-"

"No, tell her she doesn't need to leave. I don't mind her presence, she… seems a kind enough person." He sensed she wasn't fully telling him the truth, but ignored it and smiled at the Amazon.

"No, Pyr. You're… you're fine, we're just arguing a little bit is all. She doesn't want you to leave either, so stay." He said dismissively, chuckling lightly, "She's as forgiving and kind as you, I guess. Doesn't blame a soul for what happened, except I guess whoever attacked her."

"That's good of her." Pyrrha said awkwardly, sitting on her bed and staring at the floor uncomfortably for several long seconds, "Nora and Ruby… Asked after you, you know. I told them you had a headache, and that you wanted to rest. I am fairly sure they think you're avoiding them, though."

"I know." He said simply, and she sighed, knowing what he meant. "Thank you, though, Pyrrha. I appreciate your help. I'm so glad I decided to tell you everything."

"As am I, Jaune. It is good for you to trust your partner, and I hope you understand that I would gladly do the same if you and I were in opposite positions." She smiled at him warmly, and he sensed the affection behind it emanating from her before the anxiety crept back and her smile faltered, "But… the question of what to do next is one I suppose falls on your shoulders. But know that my shield and sword remain yours, whatever you choose."

"I'd… offer to help you, but it would mean little." Amber added dryly, sighing across the connection, "I'd do anything you asked, really, given what you do for me."

"I appreciate you both." He said quietly, smiling at them both though he knew Amber couldn't see it, before he realized Pyrrha didn't quite understand by her raised brow, "Amber said she'd help too, if she could. But she, uh, kinda can't. Because, you know..."

"Death bed." Pyrrha said quietly, grimacing, before smiling at him, "Well, I thank her anyways."

"As for what to do…." He shrugged, letting out a breath and turning back to the window, watching Yang put Ruby into a chokehold while Nora tickled her sides, "We could always go to Ozpin, tell him everything as well. I mean… that would at least make sure he doesn't hate me or anything, right?"

"How noble." Amber remarked dryly, receding from him, "I'm tired, Jaune. I'm going to rest now."

"Alright, Amber. Rest up, I... hope you feel better?" He winced when he felt her amusement, and grimaced when he heard and felt everyone's minds crash in on him at once again, "Ugh, I hate my Semblance…."

"As reasonable a response as any, I suppose." Pyrrha said quietly, eeping in surprise when her Scroll went off. "Oh my, I forgot that I had to call my mother today. I… normally always call her on Thursdays, and I guess with everything… I forgot. Would you excuse me for a moment?"

He nodded, and she started dialing away happily, walking into the bathroom to talk, and knowing that Jaune could hear her. He trusted her either way, of course, but… it didn't hurt to have his paranoia assuaged there, at least.

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"Come on, Yang! Stop it, that hurts!" Ruby whined, wriggling around to try and escape her blonde sibling's noogie trap, "I was just saying I was worried about him!"

"I agree with Yang!" Nora crowed brightly, leaning down close to Ruby's face with a mischievous grin, "You're always so worried about him, we've all noticed~. Every day, you ask where he is, what he's doing, is he dying."

"B-Because he's always staying in his room all by himself!" She squeaked, slipping out of her sister's grasp and running up the tree Ren was sitting under, lying on a branch and pouting down at them. "He was my first friend here, of course I'm worried about him…. Aren't you?"

"Of course." Nora quipped lightly, collapsing to the ground with her head next to Ren's lap, "But Pyrrha's got this, so he'll be fiiiiine."

"Pyrrha and I both know that he's been unwell since Initiation, and she's volunteered to take care of him." Ren explained simply, Nora prodding his hands needily until he started to play with her hair gently. "All we can do is wait and see what happens, and be there for him either way. Just have patience."

"She doesn't do very well with the whole 'patience' thing, Ren. Too many cookies, not enough milk, our dad says." Yang said teasingly, dodging a thrown pencil deftly and smirking up at her sister, "What's wrong, a little short tempered, are we?"

"I am not short, I am normal height!" She squeaked loudly, pout intensifying, "And I drink plenty of milk! And dad doesn't say that!"

"Not to you, maybe." She shrugged, plopping on the ground next to the tree on Ren's other side, "But to me? He says a lot. Just doesn't want to hurt your feelings, I guess. Kids are so emotional sometimes~."

"I'm not a kid!" She complained loudly again, leaping from the tree and attacking her sister, the blonde laughing and rolling across the grass with her. "Say it! Say I'm not!"

"You two are insufferable…." Weiss muttered, turning a page in her book and continuing to read quietly. Ren turned to say something, but instead smiled when he saw the thin smile on the heiress' face. "What?" She asked him after several seconds, and he simply smiled and relaxed against his tree, toying with a sleeping Nora's hair idly.

"Nothing at all."

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With a quiet grunt, Qrow dropped more wood onto the sizable stockpile he and his borrowed team had been using just outside the cave they'd found for the same purpose. A large entry area, with a small opening to get in, served as a sort of gathering area. A three foot tall Dust generator that ran on small, cylindrical cells was set up near the door, a man-sized crate holding more cells sat nearby. Three chambers of the cave that shot off from the main one served as bedrooms, one for the women, one for Qrow, and one for the men under him.

He had suggested they use it as a store room, but the idea had been shot down. No one wanted to share a room with Qrow, as it turned out. A large enough rock in the middle served as a table with several folding chairs bearing the Atlesian Navy's symbol stamped on their backs surrounded it, and a small stove was set up near the back.

"Anyone here?" He asked quietly, straightening and dusting his hands before yanking his flask out.

"Just me, everyone else is out hunting, like you said to." Luna said loudly from the girls' 'room', "I'm here like you said, so the base is never empty. Nothing too damn strange, really, 'cept a larger than normal pack of Beowolves that they already wiped out."

"Good. Keep up the good work then, and let me know if anything else interesting happens." He said, walking towards his sleeping spot tiredly, leaning his sword-scythe against the corner inside, "I'm grabbin' some rest, we should have plenty of wood to last us a while."

She poked her head around the corner, tossing a small chip at him, "Message for you, from Atlas. And a request for a status update too, to see if you need anything I guess."

"I need sleep, Haile." He grumbled, inserting the chip into his Scroll with a sigh, "I'll deal with it." He read for several minutes while she stood there - a simple status update about a potential attack back in Atlas by the 'Fang, a notice that the drones sent into the northwestern continent had been destroyed again, and a staunch denial from Menagerie that the White Fang were based there - before sighing and looking at her, "Just updates on some political garbage, Haile, relax. We'll be here a while."

"Why are we here, Qrow?" She asked quietly, tilting her head at him in curiosity, "There's no reason to be here, really. The Grimm that frequent the area aren't dangerous enough to warrant a full team plus you to be… garrisoned like this, not so close to Beacon especially."

"Can't tell ya, kiddo." He shrugged, typing out a report to send to James while she stood in his door, "Orders from the top no matter where I look, and they say we stay here and kill the fluffy friends of the forest. Not that it matters, since I'd be off doin' it no matter what either way. Here we get a bonus, at least."

"If we survive to get it, you mean." She said lowly, looking at him levelly and crossing her arms.

"We will." Qrow said, shrugging lightly, "General James Ironwood has personally pledged me his flag ship itself, all I gotta do is send up a special flare he gave me." Qrow fished out a solid black emergency flare from his waist pack to show her, "I fire this, every Atlesian in the skies comes bearing down on whoever or whatever we tell 'em to."

"Then why isn't Atlas down here, slogging it in a cave?" She asked shortly, gesturing at his own surroundings, "I don't mind slogging it, mind you, but if they want to act like they're supporting us so damn much, why don't they do this? Or just as good, give us some of their lauded Specialists?"

"The Specialist corps and most of their infantry are helping with security in Vale, and fighting Grimm on the other side of the city." He groused, turning to look at her with a raise brow, "Or should Vale depend entirely on the Atlesian military for everything?"

"I guess not..." She sighed, turning around to walk away, "Just have a bad feeling, that's all."

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Cinder's glare looked ready to melt steel, and many would worry about that very thing happening to their flesh normally, but today she was alone in her room with Emerald outside on guard duty, "But, my lady, I must reassert that sending Tyrian to… help me, will only hurt my chances of total success."

"And I feel oddly like I need to 'reassert' to you that he is on his way, and will find the boy for me." Salem replied quietly, voice crackling slightly across the Scroll connection, "You did as I need for this goal. You found me a name, and gave me much that I needed to understand his motivations and wishes. As a result, I determined that Tyrian was better for capturing him than you."

"May I ask why?" She asked quietly, eyes closed in irritation.

"You have more than enough coming up on your plate, Cinder, and Tyrian had next to nothing. You have an entire operation, with several phases that all require your personal touch, so I felt that you should be able to focus on that. Tyrian can also act in ways you cannot without drawing attention, and he can take the boy from most who might be there and escape without compromising your plans." Salem explained politely, smiling on her end at the other woman's irritation. "I need you to eliminate Ozpin and that Maiden, so you will be left alone to do so. I want that boy, so Tyrian will do what he can to secure him for me."

"Then… Then I will make sure to help him in any way he asks." Cinder said meekly, grimacing and looking at her door expectantly, "So all the plans are to stand as made, then?"

"Yes. When Tyrian arrives, you will lend him your green haired woman, Emma I believe. He will have some need of her, I feel. Tell him I order her to accept any aid she can offer, regardless of how simple it may seem." Salem said simply, ending the call as abruptly as she always did.

Growling, Cinder engulfed the device in flame and let the slag run onto the floor of the room she was in, watching it pool and cool with malice gleaming in her eyes before standing up and walking to the door. On the other side, Emerald looked to her in surprise, opening her mouth to ask how it'd gone.

She went quiet directly after, seeing her leader's scowl, instead falling in line behind her and following her quietly. After several long minutes, Cinder sighed and turned to address her over her shoulder, "My mistress is sending a man named Tyrian to collect the boy, Jaune. When he arrives, you are to cooperate with him completely, even above my needs. Even should it compromise me, you must serve him."

"B-But…" Emerald grit her teeth, before looking up and grabbing the other woman's shoulder gently, "No. I will work for him, but I won't compromise you to do it."

"Emerald-" Cinder started warningly, eyes hardening.

"No." She said quietly, shaking her head slightly, glaring at a 'Fang grunt when he came around the corner until he turned back around and left, "You said to take what I want, right?"

"Yes, but not in this situation, Emerald." She said simply, sighing and shaking her head, "I meant that you should-"

"All due respect, ma'am, but I don't care." Cinder raised a thin brow at her expectantly, smiling ever so slightly. "I am yours, not his. Not even hers. I am only yours, Cinder. If I have to choose between helping him, or saving you, I will choose you."

"Tyrian may kill you for it." She said simply, shrugging lightly as though it didn't matter, "Maybe even I will, if Salem orders me to. You understand that, right?"

"Yes, and I don't care." Emerald said calmly, nodding acceptingly and letting go of the woman, "If he comes for me, I'll fight him."

"And if I do?" Cinder asked carefully, smiling almost warmly at the younger woman, "Will you fight me as well, Emerald?"

"No. I won't." She said quietly, swallowing anxiously and staring into the other woman's eyes for a few seconds before averting her gaze, "I couldn't beat you even if I wanted to… And she might kill you for failing. I won't risk that, it'd defeat the purpose, you know?"

Cinder laughed honestly at that, so bright and cheerful Emerald couldn't hold back the grin it brought, before she smiled at the young woman more warmly than ever before, "Then do as your wish, young Emerald. Just know the consequences, that is all I demand of you."

"Yes, ma'am." She said quietly, watching the woman's back when she returned to walking down the hall.

"And Emerald?" She said lowly, voice barely above a whisper, "I am quite proud of you right now, I hope you know that."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." She said quietly, smiling brightly and lifting her head that little bit higher at the rare praise from her mistress. "Where to next, ma'am? Until your… ally arrives, what do we do?"

"We coordinate with Roman, and make sure our plans succeed, regardless of Tyrian's." Cinder said simply, chuckling darkly to herself, "I think I may just loan Mercury to him while you are away, to help him… raise some hell, so to speak."

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Sergeant Alan Terrier ran up the gunmetal gray wall, slamming into an open slot between two privates and firing his standard issue, MCK-143 Dust Pulse Rifle at the Beowolves crawling, snapping and clawing at the wall of his base. He blasted apart one's head and watched another collapse, wheezing from a dozen holes in its side, and begin to dissolve. He turned, snarling behind his helmet, as he fired on another of the beasts just like the rest of the soldiers and droids around him. Behind him he heard a whirring. Sparing a glance when he knelt to reload, he stared wide-eyed at a dozen of the massive, mechanized units that were garrisoned in the base, waiting for any Grimm to break through the defense.

"Shit!" The man beside him barked. He turned to see a massive claw slam into the soldier's shoulder, making him buckle under the weight before the claws dug into the metal and, with a muted squelch and screeching, the flesh underneath.

Alan raised the rifle with his off hand, firing at the arm wildly, and wrapped an arm around the wounded man, pulling against the beast. The other man beside them grabbed him around the waist with both arms, the two barely managing to hold him until the arm snapped off, the stray rounds pinging off the steel behind the injured man as he fell.

"Medic!" The other private barked, turning to fire into the wounded creature's maw, the shots only speckling the bone-white armor as the Alpha snarled, tackling Alan off the wall and to the ground a dozen feet below. Behind the beast, on the wall, he saw the private turn around and begin firing over the wall again in the briefest moment before the monster reared up, good claw raised to strike him. He crossed his arms in front of his face to ward it off, or try to, when a metal claw grabbed the creature, crushing its rib cage and hurling it over the wall.

"Sergeant, do you need a medic?" The Paladin pilot asked, her voice tinny through the machine's communication device, "That was a pretty bad fall."

He spared his medical HUD a moment, sighing when it confirmed what the tight breathing and sharp pain in his chest said. Two broken ribs. Then he sighed, picking up his fallen, now scratched and scuffed, rifle from the dirt, "I'm fine." He said loudly when a medic and two Knights jogged up,"There's a private up on the wall who's hurt pretty bad though."

"Sir, my connection to your HUD says-"

"That you should get that private down?" He barked, turning and shouldering his rifle as the man and his guard-droids jogged behind him, "I'm fine, kid. Take the private, leave a droid in his place." The medic didn't respond, instead deftly dodging a claw from a Creep that Alan gunned down after a second's pause to aim. Then hoisting the wounded man onto his back, the medic turned to run to a safer location to treat his wounds. The sergeant watched him run off, grunting when he felt something smack his chest. Looking down at the claw marks across the chest, and the Creep responsible for the broken steel and rent flesh, he raised his rifle and put a burst into the creature before sinking to a knee and coughing violently. "Damn monsters.…"

Forcing himself up, he looked over the wall at the horde bearing down on them. The Grimm's bodies were pressed together so tight he couldn't see the ground, smoke billowed out from under them as their brethren fell all around and dissolved. Looking about, he saw men, women, and droids dragged from the wall screaming, kicking and shooting, or tackled from their posts.

Grabbing the private to his side's arm, he wrenched him around, "Get off the wall, boy! Sound a fall back order and get to second position!"

"But, sir! There's to be no-"

"Shut the hell up and go, boy! The wall is lost, so get the men to where the Paladins can help and have them call for support! Tell them Sergeant Allan Terrier ordered the fallback!" He shoved the young man to the side, putting another burst into a young, unarmored Beowolf that leapt at his flank. The private hesitated only a second before turning and running, and he turned to bark at the droid who had remained, "Run the wall, tell them that the fallback order has been issued!"

"Yes, Sergeant." The machine said snappishly, lowering its rifle and turning to run along the wall. He watched as dozens of soldiers leapt from the wall or ran down the stairs, falling further into the forward post beside the Paladins and behind barricades while Knights stayed behind to cover the rout.

Spitting out blood, he tore his helmet off when he heard the Base Commander barking in his ear, the Hunter ordering him to rout with the others. Lifting his rifle to fire at an Alpha Lupinus as it clambered up its brothers' corpses, he sighed tiredly. The creature ducked, shielding its face with one arm's heavy plating while the other swiped upwards, tossing the weapon from his hand, before slamming the spiked limb against his chest. the spikes bit into the armor and anchored onto him.

They both snarled, him drawing his sidearm and firing uselessly into its chest while it used the spikes to hold him in place. Then, slamming him into the wall and forcing the spikes into his chest and out the back, it wrenched his limp form off its arm. The last thing he remembered was flailing through the air towards a medic and a squad of wounded soldiers with sidearms raised, desperately firing away- and the lightly armored man, whose feet he landed at, drawing twin sabers and stepping over him to join the fray.

Tanner Brown raised his sabers, ducking under the Lupinus' first swipe and letting a Paladin's heavy cannon blast it into pieces, before leaping forward and slaughtering a half dozen Beowolves and an Alpha in a matter of seconds and turning to his men, "Rally, soldiers of Atlas!" He turned back, slicing upwards and bisecting an Ursa as it tumbled awkwardly from the bending and buckling wall, "For Atlas! For Vale! For your honor!"

The wall burst as a Deathstalker scrambled into the open field, spearing an unlucky soldier with a leg and bisecting a Paladin before its pilot could react. It slammed its tail into the screaming pilot through the cockpit's window and hurled the wreckage into another Paladin, the machine crumpling under the weight. The massive Grimm flinched and bucked as Paladin and rifle fire tore into it, collapsing a second later, but the damage was done.

Grimm streamed into the outpost, rushing through bullets and the corpses of their fellows to maul droid, soldier, and Paladin in a wave of black while Tanner fought tooth and nail.

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"Sir, our last outpost just radioed in on an emergency frequency." Winter said quietly, standing in Ironwood's door at attention, face hard and grim, "Grimm assault exceeding previous estimates, and they're buckling. Requesting evac."

"Not support?" He asked curiously, raising his gaze from the display on his monitor, "Just an outright evacuation?"

"Yes, sir." She said tersely, "I can have a dozen ships and a fighter escort en route within-"

"No." James said with a sad sigh, returning his gaze to the monitor evenly, "They are Atlesian soldiers. No surrender, no retreat, no ground lost so long as a man stands on it. Inform them that air support and evacuation will be en route when available, and then ignore further communication."

"Sir, you're ordering me to lie to those soldiers and ignore them?" Winter asked in surprise, stance breaking and shock evident on her face when he nodded quietly, "But those soldiers are men and women of Atlas, defending-"

"One of several outposts under assault, and the least critical. Allocate those assets to the north, the Grimm will head that direction when they finish there." He said simply, turning the monitor to display the map he was looking at. Three outposts, one at the base of a ridge and marked out in black, "We can lose that base and still hold both the others and our main landing zone. That base is less critical than any of the others out there, so I am ordering you to let those men do their jobs."

"You're ordering me to let them be slaughtered, sir!" She argued, yelling at the man in abject horror, "All for a base you don't even care about?"

"I swore to defend Vale's wall to the last man, and those men swore to serve under me." He said quietly, opening a drawer and withdrawing a small, silver flask, opening it and taking a long drink, gasping at the unfamiliar burn that scorched his throat, "This is an order, Specialist Winter Schnee. Obey or go to the brig, and I'll get someone who's more obedient."

"Yes, sir." She said quietly, snapping a tight salute and turning to leave, sighing and raising her Scroll, "Radio back to base three, tell them to hold on until reinforcements and evac arrive."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll have Xander Wing-"

"Load them up for a bombing run, and route them to base two with fire support orders. Ignore further communiques from base three until notified otherwise, under direct orders from General James Ironwood." She waited for several seconds, her heels clicking along in the base as she waited for a response.

"My brother is at base three, ma'am…" She heard the woman's voice crack slightly, sighing and stopping in her tracks, "I-I can't just-"

"Relay the orders, lieutenant. Then you are dismissed for the day, I'll arrange for a replacement." She said quietly, ending the call before slamming her Aura protected fist into the wall and breathing heavily. "Dust damned Grimm!"

Down the hall, General James Ironwood sat at his desk, eyes closed as he prayed quietly, before opening his eyes and glaring at the wall where the Atlesian flag hung proudly. "Dust damned flag…."

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Ozpin smiled lightly, sliding a piece across his board while he and Glynda sat in his office, watching the sunset quietly. "So, Glynda, how is your class running?"

"Well enough, I suppose, though I do regret allowing you to let JNPR and RWBY out of courses for the last couple days." She said irritably, shaking her head and sliding a pawn forward a tile, waiting for Ozpin to make his own move before she made a full plan, "JNPR I could understand, but why RWBY?"

"I want young Mister Arc to have capable allies in the future, and so I am allowing him to spend time with them." He said simply, shrugging and leaping his knight forward, "This way, we gain many useful fighters, without exposing our secrets to anyone needlessly or risking their lives unduly."

"Is that not a gamble" She asked, sliding a pawn on her far right forward two in an effort to bait out his queen, "What if they are targeted by our enemies directly when they discover Jaune's importance? What he knows could serve them greatly, I doubt you need to be told."

"And yet, you still ask." He said with a quiet sigh, using his bishop to take the first pawn she'd moved, "And yes, it is a gamble. But in life and chess, strategies often require some… luck, and a gamble on a useful piece."

"This isn't your life, or chess, Ozpin." She said quietly, aware that he knew and that her words wouldn't sway him at this point, "And what about his mission? Atlas has been fighting nonstop in that area for a week now. It's far above his level, even if Peter and I both accompany them."

"Which is why you won't be accompanying them." Ozpin said simply, sipping his coffee and smiling at her when she looked up at him in shock, "Oh relax, Glynda, they won't be alone out there."

"You'd involve James in your gamble, then?" She asked in surprise, elated that he was willing to ask his old friend for help, "I doubt he can spare much, but-"

"I will be accompanying them, personally, Glynda." He said simply, moving his queen forward to take her knight after she moved it out without thinking and chuckling, "You may wish to pay more attention to the game, Miss Goodwitch, as you appear to be losing."

"I always lose, and you always make me play." She said dismissively, sliding a pawn forward carelessly, "Ozpin, you can't go out there. What if something happens? Do you really think she," Glynda spat the word, "will let you go unaccosted?"

"And if she attacks me, I will fight. I am capable enough, I assure you, and even should the worst occur, my Semblance will protect me." He said simply, shrugging and checking her king piece, "But you know that."

"To go so far…."

"He is my student, and a hope of mine." Ozpin said with a shrug, "I see every wager through to the bitter or sweet end. But you knew that too, didn't you? When I told you of this wager I was making on a young Arc, you must have known."

"I did." She said simply, sighing and standing up, "Fine then, I shall go and make the very final arrangements for the mission." She bowed and walked away, heels clacking in a way that Ozpin knew meant she was irate.

"Sorry, Glynda… but this king is too protective of his pawns, it would seem."

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